Spiritual Sunday

29 January 2012

I read the following quote in my Spiritual Diary, and found it particularly apt:

"It is usually more or less easy to analyze others and classify them according to personality. It is often more difficult to turn the searchlight on one's self in strict honesty, but that is what you must do in order to find out what improvement or change is necessary. One purpose in discovering your own personality is to know how you affect others. Consciously, or unconsciously, people feel your personality, and their reaction is a clue."

-Paramahansa Yogananda

You see, I've been struggling with this idea as it pertains to my blog. I work in sales, and spend most of time interacting with people face-to-face. I prefer it that way. I've had jobs in the past where I was behind a desk and on the phone....but I found I missed the human connection. Whereas, I absolutely love spending my time interacting with others. Just by reading a person's body language, their expressions, it's easy to see how I'm affecting them. Do they feel empowered...or concerned...or frustrated? It's obvious and instinctual when standing in front of them.

Did you know that more than half of our communication is non-verbal? We don't realize it, because we process most non-verbal cues in a subconscious way. So that begs the question, how does one adequately convey his/her personality through a blog? Sure, we can pick each word with painstaking precision, and ensure that our blog design reflects our favorite colors and patterns. But what about that 70% that people just get when they are with us in person? How on Earth can we convey that?!

The other interesting thing about the quoted phrase is "their reaction is your clue." In the blogosphere, we get feedback via comments; however, those are by and large quite positive and affirming. So how do we receive 'negative' feedback? Is it the number of visitors who didn't become followers? Is it measured in dwindling blog traffic? Or can we quantify the collective 'silence' of the uninterested majority?

So, let's stop being philosophical and get to the practical, shall we? For myself, and the sake of other readers, share your take on how you know you're being genuine and allowing people to 'feel your personality' on your blog. Are there any internal questions you ask to make sure you stay on track? How, if at all, do you measure any 'less than positive' reactions to your blog?

Thanks for reading & responding :)I promise my next post will be far less existential and will include far more pictures of swinging through trees!